Top 15 NBA Stars From The 90s You Completely Forgot About

Top 15 NBA Stars From The 90s You Completely Forgot About

When it comes to the NBA, the one decade that fans under the age of 40 want to talk about first is the 1990s. Millennials refer to this decade as the best in basketball history as exposure and scoring increased, producing a lot of new stars. Many of the stars from the decade are still talked about today and are incredibly visible in the media. Some of those players that first come to mind include Charles Barkley, Shaquille O’Neal, Karl Malone and, of course, Michael Jordan.

While those guys are in the public eye, there are plenty of players that made a huge impact that you either haven’t heard from in a long time or have completely forgotten about. These are the types of players that you forgot had made at least one All-Star team, but weren’t really known for their deep playoff runs (not that they could have with Jordan and the Bulls dominating the decade).

So who are some of these players that you probably rooted for in your childhood but may have forgotten about? Here are 15 of the NBA’s best that were overshadowed, their accomplishments and what some of them are up to today.

CEDRIC CEBALLOS

A second round pick out of Cal State Fullerton in 1990, Cedric Ceballos was pretty much already forgotten about before his career even started. Ceballos spent his first four seasons with the Suns before heading to the Lakers for three more years. He would then return to Phoenix for a season, then ended his career with short stints in Dallas, Detroit and Miami, retiring in 2001.

It took Ceballos a few years to find his footing, but he started putting up big numbers in the 1993-94 season with 19.1 points and 6.5 rebounds per game. In his first season with the Lakers, he would have a career year when he scored 21.7 points with 8.0 rebounds per game, and was named to his only All-Star team. He didn’t have a long run as being a great player, but he was certainly overlooked in the mid 1990s.

NICK VAN EXEL

Currently an assistant coach for the Memphis Grizzlies, Nick Van Exel had a very long career as a player in the NBA, but is known mainly for being a role player during the 2000s by younger NBA fans. Like Ceballos, Van Exel was a second round pick that spent time with the Lakers. Van Exel would immediately make an impact with 13.6 points and 5.8 assists per game in his rookie season.

By the late 1990s, he had become a star player (making his only All-Star Game in 1997-98), and his best season in the decade came in 1998-1999. Van Exel would end up scoring 16.5 points per game with 7.4 assists. In his career, Van Exel averaged an impressive 14.4 points and 6.6 assists per game, ending his career after the 2005-06 season with the Spurs.

KEVIN WILLIS

A former Michigan State standout, Kevin Willis actually started his NBA career in the mid 1980s, but wouldn’t retire until 2007 at the age of 44. Willis would have his best years in the 1990s as he was pretty one dimensional through the early part of his career. In the 1990s, Willis would become a scoring and rebounding machine, posting his best season in 1991-92 with Atlanta when he scored 18.3 points and hauled in 15.5 rebounds per game.

Willis would then play for Miami, Golden State, Houston and Toronto throughout the remainder of the decade, and he had finished his career with 12.1 points and 8.4 rebounds per game. He would only be named an All-NBA player once in his career (1992), but he definitely had an impact. In 2003, he won his only NBA title with the Spurs.

GLEN RICE

When everyone talks about the greatest players of the 1990s, it seems that hardly anyone ever brings up Glen Rice, even though his numbers could be compared to a lot of the greats. Rice was one of the stars from Michigan, being drafted fourth overall in 1989 by Miami. In his six seasons there, Rice would average 19.3 rebounds with 4.9 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game, but he really found his stardom in Charlotte.

Rice spent three seasons in Charlotte and made his only three All-Star teams while there. Rice scored 23.5 points per game in Charlotte before making his way to the Lakers for the final two seasons of the decade. Rice would eventually retire after the 2004 season with the Clippers after playing in just 18 games and is now an owner of a small-time MMA promotion.

EDDIE JONES

The Lakers make yet another appearance on the list with our next star, Eddie Jones, the former 10th overall pick (1994) out of Temple. Jones spent his first two season in a crowded backcourt before getting the chance to play more in his third year, and it would make him an All-Star in 1996-1997. Jones followed it up with another All-Star appearance in the next season before joining the Hornets.

Jones would end up playing a majority of his career in the 2000s, but still had his best years and all three All-Star appearances in the 1990s. Jones was also a defensive standout that was named to three All-Defensive Teams and he would finish his career by averaging 14.8 points per game. Jones retired after the 2007-2008 season with Dallas.

CLIFF ROBINSON

Cliff Robinson wasn’t drafted until the 36th pick in 1989 by Portland and the Trail Blazers would end up getting a star from the east coast. Robinson spent a lot of time on the bench during the first three seasons of his career, then became the best sixth man in the league during the 1992-93 season. The next year, Robinson had his only All-Star season when he averaged 20.1 points and 6.7 rebounds per game.

Robinson’s star would continue to shine for a couple more seasons,and he topped out his scoring at 21.3 points per game in 1994-1995. Robinson’s career started to wane in the 2000s, but he would end up playing until after the 2006-2007 season with the Nets. Robinson is now rumored to be getting into the legal marijuana market in Oregon and was a contestant on Survivor recently.

TOM GUGLIOTTA

By the later part of the 1990s, Tom Gugliotta was one of the better scorers and overall players in the NBA, but nobody was really talking about him and they still don’t to this day. Gugliotta was a former sixth overall pick by Washington, but would have his best days in the 1990s with Minnesota. Gugliotta was named to one All-Star team and that happened in the 1996-1997 season with Minnesota when he scored 20.6 points per game to go along with 8.7 rebounds and 4.1 assists.

Gugliotta’s career would continue until the end of the 2004-05 season when he played with both Boston and Atlanta, finishing his career with averages of 13.0 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. These days, “Googs” is enjoying retirement as he now lives in Atlanta and spends most of his time playing golf.

KEVIN JOHNSON

Kevin Johnson is certainly not forgotten in Sacramento, as he has been serving as the city’s mayor since 2008. However, people could probably tell you more these days about Johnson’s political career than his basketball career. Johnson was the seventh pick out of Cal by the Cavaliers in 1987 and he would end up being a three-time All-Star with the Suns (after a trade) in the early 1990s.

Johnson had some incredible years in the 1990s, but his best had to be in the very first part of the decade when he scored 22.5 points with 11.4 assists and 3.6 rebounds per game in 1989-90. Johnson’s career came to an end when the 1990s did and he played all but 52 games of his career with the Suns.